It is, of course, generally known to cut up food items, such as vegetables, fruits and meats using a knife. In order to cut vegetables, meats and other items into smaller pieces, it is necessary to put the knife in several cross directions, which can require some degree of knife skills for even cutting and slicing. Additionally, as the items get smaller during cutting, it can become more difficult to hold the items by hand in order to complete the cutting process, which may lead to inadvertent injury.
Cutting and slicing food items can also be tedious. Some items, such as onions, tend to be difficult to cut not only because of their layers, but also because of the chemical that is released during cutting, which is irritating to the eyes. Other items, such as tomatoes, peaches, nectarines can be soft and difficult to cut into uniform pieces. Finally, certain types of fruit, such as apples and oranges can likewise be difficult to cut into uniform pieces.
Preparing a salad typically includes cutting lettuce and other vegetables into bite size pieces using a cutting board. The cut items are then typically combined into a separate container for mixing and serving. It would be advantageous to combine the steps of making a salad, including cutting the vegetables and combining them into a serving bowl, in fewer steps.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method that provides a modular unit that combines cutting, serving and storage of the cut food items.
It would be further advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method for cutting and combining food items having a combination of components that are easily nested together for use and storage.
It would also be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method for cutting and/or slicing food items without requiring the user to directly handle the food item while it is being cut.
Additionally, it would be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method for cutting and slicing food items into uniform pieces without requiring special knife skills.
It would be further advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method for cutting and slicing food items without the need to place hands and fingers in proximity of the cutting blades.
It would be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method that saves process steps during food preparation.
It would be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method that allows for the cutting and slicing of foods, retaining water, fluids and/or juices that are normally lost during the cutting process, providing for healthier and tastier foods.
It would be further advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method that allows the cutting and slicing of food allowing for easy rotation of the cutting surface. Moreover, it would be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method that allows a cutting template to be disposed over the food items to be cut, and by rotation of the cutting surface provides for alternate positioning of the food items on the cutting surface and beneath the cutting template. Further, it would be advantageous to provide a cutting apparatus, system and method that provides a raised cutting surface, such that when a cutting template is placed over the food items to be cut, and the cutting surface is rotated therebeneath, the food items remain on the cutting surface without being subject to falling out of the apparatus.
These and other aspects of the invention will become readily apparent from the detailed description, which follows.